I now understand Fandom Wank.

[icarus]

I now understand why people read Fandom Wank.

I ran across posts about the race wank (and heard about it from amothea earlier today), then poked at them curiously. Oh, so hard to follow when both sides -- or multiple sides -- are upset, and not fun reading the anger, not fun at all.

Now I see that Fandom Wank takes the whole thing and makes it simple. Turns it into a few sound bites, and what's more, strips out the anger (and replaces it with mockery).

Having been wanked, I know the process is:

Step 1 - A fight!
Step 2 - Anonymous people report it on wank_report, or Clairvoyant Wank on journalfen.
Step 3 - Fandom Wank picks a side and writes a flippant gloss of the fight.

I know in Step 3 the substance is lost. Nuance is not hilarious.

But on the other hand, when people are getting very huffy, and the argument has been spiraling out of control for days, and the 20 dollar words are piling up to prove that one side is more intelligent ergo more deserving of support than the other, and the sentence length starts to rival Tolkien... it's a relief to find a simple version.

The gloss and picking sides isn't fair to either side, but man. When you guys are fighting, you mind posting a Cliff Notes version?



In other news...

How to reply to an ad for a free futon frame on Craigslist:

Hi. My name's X. I have a truck to pick it up. Here's my phone number.

How NOT to reply to an ad for a free futon frame on Craigslist:

Hi. Is a queen size the same as a full size? What color pine is it? Is it the kind that sits on the floor? Does it fold up? Is it possible to see a picture? What are the measurements of a queen size futon frame?

Guys. Who would you call back?

Answer the ad with your definite interest. Then ask all the questions over the phone.

Comments

[wyomingnot.livejournal.com]

How to reply to an ad for a free futon frame on Craigslist:

Oh, man. I went through that last year when I listed a free *piano*.

Yeah, the first one who said, "I'll take it. Call me to arrange a time to pick it up." got it.

Seriously, I just don't get the people who are stupid and/or picky about big *free* stuff.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Man... no kidding. I called this one woman, and she had me on the phone for 15 minutes till I finally told her: "It's a basic, ordinary, no frills futon frame. If you're asking questions about its appearance, you don't want it."

By the way, if you happen to have another free piano.

Wait. Is it a grand, baby grand, or stand-up? When was it last tuned? Is a Baldwin or another brand-?

Icarus

[wyomingnot.livejournal.com]

I have a different piano now, one I *like*. One I'm going to pay I don't know how much to get moved this fall.

My ad included the brand (it was a Baldwin) and the damned measurements. Plus the fact that it hadn't been tuned in the four years I'd owned it, in fact had been in a storage unit for over two years.

If after all that info someone still had questions? Definitely not the piano they were looking for.

If you're asking questions about its appearance, you don't want it.

Probably a good phrase to include. It certainly applied to my old piano. The lady who got it was pleased as punch with it though. She and her two teenagers managed to shoehorn it into the back of her minivan and she was smiling the whole time. And all she asked in her email was if it was still available and when could she come pick it up.

:)

I'll stop rambling now.

[wook77.livejournal.com]

I'd totally call the demanding person... just to tell them to stop being such an idiot.

Went through the same when giving away dog crates. Dude, they're dog crates. I said they were large, I'm not pulling out a ruler to measure them. You want them, they're free. Bring your dog by, it ain't big enough, I'll call the next person.

I ended up donating to the local humane society instead. So much hassle to give people stuff.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

If this doesn't work out, we're spending 20 bucks and donating them to charity. Though very often they don't want futon frames.

Icarus

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

Oh goodness, I was around when Race wank started and that's when I completely pulled out of fandom. I'm one of those people who watches TV to get away from these things, you know? And I understand that tv is a reflection of society or whatever, but I'm just here for the hot actors and slashy subtext. :D I just take a step back and pretend I don't belong.

[greenling.livejournal.com]

Now I see that Fandom Wank takes the whole thing and makes it simple. Turns it into a few sound bites, and what's more, strips out the anger (and replaces it with mockery).

I don't know, right now it looks like four pages of "kill everyone involved" with a side order of "goddamnit stop posting the notfunny". *g*

Meh.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't usually read the comments -- the responders just run with the slant of the main post (boo whichever side was chosen as the bad guy) and amplify it.

[dancing-moon.livejournal.com]

I take it you haven't seen the wanks (though they appear mostly on otf_wank - non-fandom stuff) where everyone attacks the OP for not being funny or grudge-wanking?

It is the best place to find a complete collection of links to any given fandom implosion, especially if you don't have many lj friends in that corner of the fandom.

[millefiori.livejournal.com]

You too? I hardly ever read the comments, because they're so boring. (Although it is kind of funny--if infuriating--when they go off howling about something they've completely gotten wrong.)

I keep going back though, because they're so desperate for material that a lot of the links they post as wank can actually lead to some interesting discussion.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I've tried to read them, but they're just repetitive and dull.

It's such a bizarre experience to have a link characterized on F_W as "and here's the batshit crazy!" and then pop it open and find a well-reasoned post that the F_W just didn't agree with.

There was one just below the current post mocking Robin Hobb, who talked about how blogging sucks down time and energy. She's right. How many times have I gone for the instant gratification of a post rather than working on Out Of Bounds? How many times today did I do that? I've found one of the best ways to make progress on fics is to unplug the dial-up.

[greenling.livejournal.com]

Well... I disagree there, but whatever works for you, I guess. :3

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

Your pragmatism is, as always, an example to us all. & ;-)

(No, seriously. GOOD POINT there.)

Also, I often have mixed feelings about F-W (which in no way stop me from going there when I'm that kind of bored), but to my great relief, even the f-w commentors overall reacted like sensible human beings after the DD scandal.

And oh! Thanks for the compliments re: my manips; you're right about the tension -- or lack thereof -- in the big one, but I'm glad the small ones ain't too bad.

[lttledvl.livejournal.com]

The same thing happens with freecycle...yargh...

Sometimes the replies are not as bad the initial requests (see, Freecycle works both ways). I got no problem with people looking for really hard to find things or stuff that most people would throw out. But asking (and being picky) for non-cheap things...

'Wanted: old and/or used candles to melt down and make into new candles'
Cool Beans! most people ain't got a clue what to do with the left over blobs

'Wanted: I'm a poor student in need of a laptop. Must have cd-rom drive (prefer dvd-drive if possible), capable of running at least windows 2000 (but xp or vista would be nice) with a decent size memory and harddrive (at least a couple of gigs)'

Dude...it's freecycle, not an effing free-ride of gifts.

Ok, I exaggerate a teeny bit, but seriously I have seen people actually ask for laptops, video game consoles, mp3 players and even....a car...(and yes, the car had to be running and road-legal - that is not an exaggeration, seriously, that idiot...)
*facepalm*

Heh

[barbana.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Funny enough I heard about the wankery from my fairly non slash fenish roommate hikaki who brought it up when she got home. I heard both sides and then guess who was at the heart of things.

So it just goes to show I'm as out of it as I thought I was.

[harveywallbang.livejournal.com]

wow about the lady with futon questions. just..wow..